Daniel Hale is an Air Force veteran who blew the whistle on the US drone warfare program in Afghanistan and Iraq. After leaving the military, Daniel was an outspoken anti-war activist, even appearing prominently in National Bird, an award-winning documentary on the US drone program. He anonymously authored a chapter in the book The Assassination Complex, and he’s suspected as the source behind The Intercept’s series “The Drone Papers.”
One of the major revelations of the Drone Papers is that 90% of the casualties from drone strikes are not the intended target. The leaks also detail the chain of command that decides who is targeted for drone strikes. Based on this information, human rights experts argue that the US military’s actions constitute war crimes.
Fight for the Future supports all whistleblowers, including Daniel Hale. For decades, those who risk their livelihood to tell the truth have faced harsh consequences. With this knowledge, Daniel Hale, Reality Winner, Chelsea Manning, and many other whistleblowers choose to do the right thing at the expense of their own freedom. Telling the truth is not a crime.
In 2019, Daniel was arrested and charged under the Espionage Act, and he’s facing a maximum sentence of ten years. In May, he pled guilty to one count under the Espionage Act, and he was held in the same military prison where Chelsea Manning was once detained. On July 27, 2021, Daniel was sentenced to 45 months in prison. He is currently incarcerated at USP Marion in Illinois.
Without Daniel’s truth-telling, we likely never would have had proof of the horrors of the US drone program. Sign the petition calling on President Biden to pardon him.
P.S. Daniel Hale’s team invites his supporters to send mail, photographs, and books. Learn how you can support Daniel here.
LETTER TEXT:
Dear President Biden,
We, the undersigned, are respectfully asking you to pardon Daniel Hale. Daniel Hale pled guilty to one count of “retention and transmission of national defense information” in violation of the Espionage Act on March 31, 2021. On July 27th 2021, he was sentenced to almost four years in prison.
Daniel Hale is not a spy, a threat to society, or a bad faith actor. His revelations were not a threat to national security. If they were, the prosecution would be able to identify the harm caused directly from the information Hale made public.
While the courts have ruled that a defendant’s motive in a case related to the Espionage Act is irrelevant, we recognize that Hale’s motive was only to provide the American people with information about government misconduct. We believe that rather than harm our country, Hale’s revelations actually enhanced our democracy by providing critical information about what our government has been doing in our name. We also believe that Hale’s revelations help push our government to reassess its drone program in light of its violations of US and international law.
In a handwritten letter Daniel wrote to his judge explaining why he did what he did, Daniel said “The answer came to me, that to stop the cycle of violence, I ought to sacrifice my own life and not that of another person. So I contacted an investigative reporter with whom I had an established prior relationship and told him that I had something the American people needed to know.”
Daniel being sent to prison sets a terrible example for freedom of speech and sends a message that the American public does not have a right to know about government misconduct. For the right to free speech, and for the enhancement of our democracy, please consider pardoning Daniel Hale.